O'Reilly also noted that, as we move away from the traditional factory-based model towards a more service and knowledge-based economy, people have more choice about when they want to take their holidays anyway.

"The [thing] that is insurmountable is that nobody else in the world is on holiday in February.

"We don't get to tell the world what to do."

However, this sentiment wasn't reflected in a WeatherWatch poll that ran last year, said head analyst Philip Duncan.

The poll asked readers to choose when their preference for holidays would be.

Twenty-eight per cent wanted to leave the holidays as they were, 17 per cent wanted to take their holiday in January and 55 per cent said they wanted to take the time off in February.

"It does make sense if you think about it. December is very much like spring, a lot of meteorologists believe that summer doesn't officially start until the longest day of the year just before Christmas.